Rise Of The Blue Beetle

Ok…I guess it’s time to give Jaime more than just a passing comment. I struggle with Jaime. As I’ve said before, Ted is “my” Blue Beetle and he had to die (well, he didn’t have too…but that was the decision made by the DC editors) for Jaime to carry on the legacy.

So, today let’s talk “Batman: The Brave And The Bold – Rise Of The Blue Beetle”

The Clock King has Batman and Green Arrow caught in a clockwork deathtrap! Will the Caped Crusader? Will the Emerald Archer? Jaime sits at home discussing superheroes and watching the finale to this fight on TV with his friend Paco. After sending Paco home and turning off the lights he notices that world famous silhouette at his window. Batman is waiting outside he needs Jaime’s “expertise” with a meteor that’s headed on a collision course with a space station. Once on the way though Jaime’s suit takes control and the duo find themselves pulled through a wormhole, landing on a planet “on the backside of the Milky Way” (Batman deduces that based on the alignment of the stars in the sky) where Kanjar Ro is rounding up the local inhabitants, the Gibble People, to convert them to fuel. Wait, what?! Yep, you read that right…he’s killing the local life form to create energy. (Kinda dark for a kids show, don’t you think?) Any way the Gibbles seem to be familiar with Blue Beetle, they even have a statue in his honor, but they never expected to see him again…not after his last fight with Kanjar Ro and his weapon, the Gamma Gong!

 

Seems like Jaime’s scarab has been here before, but with another host. Jaime and Bats decided to rally the Gibbles and take on Kanjar Ro as a team. They storm Kanjar’s ship and Bats finds himself in trouble, staring down the barrel of the villain’s gun. Jaime swoops in for the save and begins a cocky celebration…until Ro reappears with the Gamma Gong, a sonic weapon that strips Jaime of his armor. Next thing you know Batman and the Gibbles are tied up like some kind of sacrifice for space squid, while Kanjar Ro gets it on and bangs a gong trying to use the sonic weapon to remove the scarab and take its power for himself. Bats manages to free himself and, after hearing one of the Gibbles quote Jaime about “finding the power within”, he electrocutes said Gibble. What the?! It's ok folks, he's alright! After his odd moment of sadism, it’s actually Batman who inadvertently hits the right note allowing Kanjar Ro to get the scarab and become an evil Beetle. Depowered and just wearing his boxers, Jaime manages to “think like Batman” and frees himself before rescuing Bats once again by using the Gamma Gong against Kanjar Ro. After leaving the Gibbles in the capable hands of their new leader, the one Bats zapped, they cross back through the worm hole and arrive just in time to stop that meteor! Batman wraps up their adventure with these words of wisdom, “I wanted to see if the kid had hero potential, instead I got to see him become one!”

 

Ok...I have to admit, this was kinda fun! He's still no Ted...but he's got potential.